1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of communications systems, and more particularly in one exemplary aspect to a form factor design for an integrated circuit card and adaptation for use with existing legacy cellular equipment.
2. Description of Related Technology
A “smart card” or “integrated circuit card (ICC)” is a card that has been embedded with an integrated circuit. Smart cards are generally constructed as memory components and/or logic components embedded within a plastic form (e.g., polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or polycarbonate). Existing smart card form factors are shown in Table 1:
TABLE 1TypeLengthWidthThicknessFull85.60 mm  53.98 mm  0.76 mmMini-SIM25 mm15 mm0.76 mmMicro-SIM15 mm12 mm0.76 mm
Smart card technology has been used extensively in cellular applications. Several popular cellular technologies control subscriber access with subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. Specifically, a SIM card contains an embedded logic component which shares cryptographic secrets with an authentication center. During operation, the device receives and/or transmits cryptographic challenges, and can generate and/or evaluate responses. Successful completion of a cryptographic exchange enables mutual verification of the authentication center and the SIM card (and by implication, the possessor of the SIM card). Successful verification enables a secure session between both parties for secure communication.